Index plunges 280 points on CPI announcement
Updated: 2007-10-25 16:34
Domestic stocks were hammered Thursday after news of the consumer price index and other negative reports, as the benchmark Shanghai index lost nearly 300 points, the biggest drop since June 4.
Opening at 5,794.22 points, the Shanghai Composite Index rarely saw any strong rebounds in the morning and lost 200 points in the first session after the most recent CPI figures were released during trading. Although bargain hunters swooped in around 2 pm and pushed the index back up a little, it failed to claw its way out of the sharp fall and sank further amid panic selling during the last trading hour. The index finished at 5,562.39 points, 280 points, or 4.8 percent down from Wednesday, wiping out all gains made since October 1.
The Shenzhen Component Index also plunged to close at 18,175.31 points, 3.13 percent lower than Wednesday. The CSI 300 index covering major blue-chips in both markets dove 4.55 percent and closed at 5,333.79.
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Shanghai Composite Index |
Due to massive panic selling during the plunge, turnovers in both markets reached 183.9 billion yuan (US$24.52 billion), with 1,283 stocks closing with losses, and only 70 remaining in the black. Some 400 stocks finished 10 percent down on the daily limit, almost one third of the two markets.
Almost no sector survived today's dive as a whole, even the popular large cap blue chips. BaoSteel, the nation's leading steel maker, lost 5.85 percent to 17.54 yuan per share. Shenhua Energy also fell 3.52 yuan to 77.11 yuan.
Financial stocks, although dwindling with the index, remained stronger than the market average amid the strong performance of the renminbi against the US dollar. ICBC shed 4.15 percent to 7.62 yuan, while China Construction Bank gained 0.83 percent and close at 9.73 yuan.
Stocks that were up include Dynamic Power, a Beijing-based info-tech firm that procured a second 10-percent gain today. Port of Nanjing barely touched the upper limit of 11.66 yuan.
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